Tuesday, February 19, 2013

How Harper Was Conned

Who says you can't bullshit a bullshitter? Don't tell that to the procurement wizards at our Department of National Defence. They've been pulling the wool over the eyes of our gullible prime minister almost since he took office. Michael Byers and Stewart Webb chronicle how hapless Harper got fleeced:

In the style of the classic BBC show, politicians have long been “Yes
Ministered” by the Department of National Defence. The problem has
reached new heights under Harper, who came to power believing the
generals and admirals could do no wrong.

Defence officials
decided the CF-18 replacements needed stealth technology, thus excluding
all aircraft other than the F-35. They narrowed the field for the
fixed-wing search and rescue project by specifying a minimum cabin
length just 15 centimetres greater — and a cruising speed just 12 knots
faster — than the Spanish-made EADS C-295. They set a minimum size for
Canada’s maritime helicopter replacement that excluded the Sikorsky
Seahawk, the workhorse of the U.S. navy’s rotary wing fleet.

Officials like to buy
so-called “paper planes” that are only in the design phase, since this
offers the possibility of having the very latest and flashiest kit. But
there are risks involved with unbuilt, unproven designs. The F-35 design
proved grossly optimistic, leading to long delays, much-increased
costs, and less than expected performance. The U.S. Department of
Defense has already downgraded its specifications for the plane.

In the case of the
planned Sikorsky Cyclone helicopters chosen to replace the Sea Kings,
the generals and admirals added new electronics and weapons systems onto
the design after the procurement was approved and a contract signed.
All the additional equipment proved too heavy for the engines, which
meant that more powerful engines had to be designed and fitted, which in
turn required a lengthy and expensive full re-engineering of the
aircraft.

Defence officials
secure approval for these “paper planes” by telling ministers that
Canadian companies involved in the initial production of cutting-edge
military equipment will reap significant rewards when other countries
purchase the same equipment later. The problem is that new designs fail
more often than they succeed, and other countries shy away from
equipment that underperforms or is overly delayed. No country apart from
Canada has selected the Cyclone. Sales of the F-35 are far below the
projected level, diminishing any economic benefits and driving up the
per-unit cost.

Officials also lowball
costs, or fail to inform ministers about maintenance, infrastructure
and other “life-cycle” expenses related to the purchase. For the F-35s,
defence officials said the cost would be $9.7 billion. The parliamentary
budget officer said $29.3 billion. The auditor general said $25.1
billion. When the government brought in the accounting firm KPMG to
provide some clarity, it said $45.8 billion.

As for the Cyclones,
their projected cost has doubled to $5.7 billion — for just 28
helicopters. This price does not include infrastructure costs, such as
the refitting of Canada’s existing naval vessels to accommodate the new
aircraft.

For seven years,
Harper and his ministers have failed to oversee these and other
procurements. Defence officials, left on their own and bursting with
self-confidence, went on incautious spending sprees.

Worst of all, nobody
showed any concern for the front-line Canadian Forces personnel left
flying out-of-date and unsafe aircraft, like the 50-year-old Sea Kings,
the 40-year-old Buffalo search and rescue planes, and the 30-year-old
CF-18s.

Sideshow Harper and his minion, Airshow MacKay, were gullible to the point of recklessness in just about every aspect of Canada's armed forces. They really believed that they are their generals were sympatico and that the boys in uniform were somehow a sub-unit of the Conservative government. This, of course, is in keeping with Harper's methodical transformationof the public and armed services into his partisan political agencies. It's not surprising he got conned. He had it coming.